The Bible

In the Book of Exodus, Chapter 3 Verses 1-6, God appears to Moses as a bush which burned but was not consumed by the flame:

1 Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. 3 So Moses thought, "I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up."

4 When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, "Moses! Moses!" 
 And Moses said, "Here I am."

5 "Do not come any closer," God said. "Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground." 6 Then he said, "I am the God of your father, [a] the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob." At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.

Why did God choose to appear to Moses as a burning bush? Reading God’s mind is no easy task, but continues to be a job that theologians and philosophers adhere to like superglue. After all, it was Albert Einstein who said, “I want to know God’s thoughts. The rest are just details.” God’s motivations, assuming he has them, are cause for great human concern. So why a bush, God? And why a fire?

In my opinion, and I am no theologian, God chose fire because fire makes people stop and gaze. It makes people cautious, because they know the dangers, but it also amazes them with its bright colors and strong thermal heat. Fire is unlike any other substance found on Earth.

Another thing that fascinates humans is any kind of anomaly. Humans expect things to happen according to certain patterns. When we see a book fall from a shelf, we foresee its trajectory based on the hundreds of thousands of objects we have seen fall victim to gravity over the years. When we see an organic, leafy object, such as a bush, containing a fire, we expect that organic structure to become consumed by the flame—because that is what he have seen and known to be true.

By appearing not only as fire but also as an anomaly, God in the Old Testament effectively grabs Moses’ attention. Which is all He really wanted in the first place.

Backdraft

Backdraft is a cinematic masterpiece starring Kurt Russell, William Baldwin and Robert DeNiro, directed by Ron Howard. It follows the story of firefighters fighting arson.


Ring of Fire (Johnny Cash)

As we all learned in Walk the Line, the recent biopic starring a dashing Joaquin Phoenix as the young, troubled Cash, it was Reese Witherspoon who wrote “Ring of Fire.”

As Reese poignantly wrote,

I fell in to a burning ring of fire
I went down,down,down
and the flames went higher.
And it burns,burns,burns
the ring of fire
the ring of fire.

In this classic song (which was actually written by June Carter), fire is equated to an unstoppable, energetic danger.

Smoke on the Water (Deep Purple)

We all came out to Montreux,
On the Lake Geneva shoreline.
To make records with a mobile,
We didn't have much time.
But Frank Zappa and the Mothers,
Were at the best place around,
But some stupid with a flare gun,
Burned the place to the ground.
Smoke on the water, a fire in the sky.
Smoke on the water...

Deep Purple wrote this song, blaming a destructive fire on “some stupid with a flare gun.” Here we see an instigator to widespread destruction, someone who has had the blame squarely placed on their shoulders. Fire is something that is often begun accidentally enough, but eventually grows out of control once it hits proper kindling. In the case of “Smoke on the Water”, the fire was begun accidentally, presumably by someone under the influence of a controlled substance, and soon spread.